[linux-audio-dev] Re: linuxaudio.org

[Marek Peteraj]

On Thu, 2004-01-15 at 02:35, Kai Vehmanen wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Jan 2004, Marek Peteraj wrote:
> 
> >>   So, the world of Linux audio developers is not one 
> >> with a nice uniform viewpoint that's somehow encapsulated in this 
> >> mailing list.  Doesn't that suggest that if this were to be debated 
> > Jack, ladspa, does it ring a bell? See the lad archive. 
> 
> I promised myself not to get involved but now I just have to, although
> only commenting this one specific statement.
> 
> JACK ---> Paul Davis. Discussions happened on LAD but mostly 
>           concentrating on the n+1 different proposals and
>           implementations on doing an audio server, and of course,
> 	  making more proposals. Paul just went ahead and did it. 

That's what i said in my prevoius email. First discuss then take action.
Of course nobody is bound to first discuss then take action if it
concerns a oss sw project.  But as i see it, a project such as jack or
ladspa is of higher importance, since it's also a standard, a technology
which affects a higher number of other specific audio apps. That's why i
think it was brought onto LAD.

LAD plays an important role in this regard. It's a pool of linuxaudio
developers leading their own projects or contributing. If i want to
propose a standard or an idea, i know that i can do it here since it's a
known access point for all la developers. It gets discussed so that i
can see if it fits the needs of other developers and what the other
needs of those developers are. This discussion is forming/shaping the
standard. Then it might or might not get adopted depending on its
importance.

The 'known access point for all la developers' is a part of linuxaudio
advocacy.

To summarize:

1. LAD should be an access point for all linux audio developers
2. LAU should be a known access point for many linux audio users
3. a linux audio developer foundation should be an access point for the
music industry

OTOH linuxaudio.org is no oss sw project and affects whole community. 

> 
> LADSPA -> Richard Furse. Although LADSPA is still _the_ example
>           of LAD people working together, we were not closing
>           in on any kind of solution in our discussions back
>           in 1999-2000. Richard went ahead and put the pieces
>           together, and ta-daa, we had a standard.

Lots of issues have been discussed before and after the standard
release. I guess there are significant contributions from at least Steve
and Paul.

You just can't say that these projects we done without any discussion.
They were *born* on LAD. It doesn't matter if it's a one man action or
700 man action. If it's a one man action then the people responsible for
that action will get the respect they deserve. Nobody is going to
disagree that Paul is the father of Jack. :)

But i hope that nobody is going to disagree that LAD is the mother of
all standards that affect linux audio projects. 

To Quote the JACK homepage:

"Jack was inspired by and partially designed during discussions on the
Linux Audio Developers mailing list. Particularly significant
contributions to those discussions came from (in alphabetical order):

      * Paul Davis
      * Richard Günther
      * David Olofson
      * Benno Sennoner
      * Kai Vehmanen
Paul Davis was the principal author of the Jack API and of its sample
implementation. Very significant contributions have been made by:

      * Kai Vehmanen
      * Jack O'Quin
      * Bob Ham
      * Steve Harris
      * Stephane Letz
Many other members of LAD contributed ideas and code to Jack."


> 
> LAD web site
>        -> Jörn Nettingsmeier. Again, this is another mostly
>           one man show, that is run so well that others
>           have silently approved it as the official frontend
>           to LAD.
> 
> ... so history shows (and personal memories of many endless discussions
> prove it), that Chris is very much right - LAD is not one unified
> community. 

I say it already is, and we should all encourage such process.

> IMHO the magic of LAD is that it has survived the overblown egos of us
> developers for so long, and even witnessed few cases of random
> collaboration. :) And perhaps most importantly, LAD has been a fun place
> to be - let's try to keep it that way.

It wasn't really a fun place to be during jack related discussions :)

Marek